Data Centre EMEA: BYOD, VDI Scrabble and the impact on the Data Centre

It is always interesting how an economic downturn drives innovation in IT. It is probably caused by a combination of things; the first is customers looking at alternative ways of reducing costs and the second is that people hold off spending and then make a bigger step when the budget returns. The same is not always true of consumers as the constant rise in the sales of smartphones and tablets show. Where these 2 trends meet is in what many call BYOD or bring your own device which is part of a wider trend of the Consumerization of IT (CoIT). Depending on your point of view this is either a problem to solve or an opportunity to embrace.

What I have observed within Juniper is that since my co-workers have started to use smartphones the volume of mail that appears late at night and at weekends has grown hugely which I guess is symptomatic of always connected easy access. My colleagues @PaulGainham, @nigelatjuniper and @dnogeur have written many times about the opportunities for service providers in the BYOD environment but I want to look at the other end of things (because this is a data centre blog).

BYOD is causing many organisations to look again at VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) as a way of simplifying the management of desktops but also to be able to deliver applications and services to tablets and other devices. Historically VDI was handicapped by the performance of the infrastructure as the way it works is to effectively create an instance of the remote device in the data centre and then communicates screen information to and from the user device. The challenges were in the performance of the network between the user and the data centre, the fact that the storage was remote to the application on a disk and the performance of the network in the data centre. Add into that any security controls that were required and it became a bit of a suboptimal solution.

Today though we have fast wifi, 3G and 4G networks, gigabit Ethernet, 50Mb broadband so suddenly the access network is running much faster, but what is happening in the data centre? For each user session a VM is kicked off which acts as the computer and so to keep the costs down we need to try and run as many of these VMs on a server as possible. The recent announcement of the Intel Xeon E5-2600 processor will allow vendors to build bigger faster systems. With 8 cores, 16 threads and support for PCI express 3.0 the number of VDI VMs that can be supported is substantial.

This then creates some other issues the first of which is storage. With the I/O speeds that these processors can achieve having your data on a disk across a 4Gb SAN is a huge bottle neck. The current solution is to place solid state disk (SSD) as close to the server as possible and products from companies like Violin Memory reduce the access times and increase the available I/Os per second (IOPS). The load image and other control functions exist on other servers around the data centre and these all need accessing on a regular basis.

This starts to change the shape and dynamics within the data centre as we now need low latency high capacity access to multiple resources and the ability to stand up VMs at almost any location in the system based on how busy the system is. This just will not work in a traditional multi-tier network model. The optimum solution for working with technology like Violin Memory is Juniper Networks QFabric which has been recently tested by Network Test with over 1500 10GbE ports in a single switch delivering sub 5micro second latency.

So in summary BYOD needs VDI which runs better with SSD over FC, iSCSI or FCoE on QFabric. Apart from being a bad hand at Scrabble we learn that the adoption of new desktop technology has an effect through the system. More and more of the issues in the IT infrastructure have their solution in virtualization and to make virtualization work properly and infrastructure of fast servers, solid state storage and QFabric are 3 things needed to make it successful and we have not yet mentioned security.

Personally I think that VDI will go through a huge growth over the next few years and become one of the drivers to expand and update the data centre but what do you think? Let me know.

Aviram Zrahia is a consulting engineer at Juniper Networks and an industry researcher of cyberspace. He holds a CISSP and GCIH certifications, as well as a bachelor's degree in computer science and MBA in management of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He is also a research fellow in the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC) at Tel Aviv University, currently focusing on the domain of threat intelligence sharing.

Ben has been working with service providers around the world for the last 15 years developing business cases for a variety of product concepts and new ventures.
Ben holds an MBA from MIT and a BS & MS in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

A Marketing and Business Development professional with 24 years extensive Sales/Business Development, Marketing and Technical experience in the Networking/Telecoms/Datacomms and Mobile market segments, focused on selling to Service Providers.
Fomerly VP Marketing at the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)

David Noguer Bau is the head of Telco Vertical Marketing at the SP Strategic Marketing team in Juniper Networks. He has extensive experience in Service Provider network evolution and regularly runs executive sessions with technical and marketing teams of important telecom operators to accelerate the adoption of virtualisation.
David is based in Barcelona and has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. Prior joining Juniper Networks, Mr. Noguer Bau spent seven years at Nortel where he was a Business Development Manager specializing in Carrier Ethernet and Broadband areas. Before Nortel he worked at Eicon-Dialogic as Technical Manager in Spain. David has been the Country Marketing Chair at Metro Ethernet Forum for Spain.
Mr. Noguer has wide experience speaking at international Conferences. He was graduated as Computer Engineer by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and has an executive MBA from EADA Barcelona and executive education at the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona) and the Henley Business School (UK).
The views expressed here are my personal opinions , have not been reviewed or authorized by Juniper Networks and do not necessarily represent the views of Juniper Networks.

Donyel Jones-Williams is the Director of Service Provider Product Marketing Management overseeing all of Juniper's Service Provider Products for Juniper Networks. In this role, he leads all of the internal and external marketing activities for Juniper with respect to routing, automation, SDN and NFV.
Prior to joining Juniper Networks in January 2014, Donyel was a Senior Product Line Manager for Cisco Systems with in the High End Optical Routing Group managing product lifecycle for multiple products lines helping telecom providers operate efficiently and effectively including; ONS 155xx Product Family, ONS 15216, ONS 15454 MSTP, Carrier Packet Transport Product Family, ME 2600x, & ASR 9000v. He also negotiated favorable agreements with 3rd-party vendors furnishing components and parts and conducted both outbound and inbound marketing (webinars, case study-development, developed and delivered both business & technical at Cisco Live 2005-2012).
Donyel graduated from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. While attending Cal Poly SLO he was a collegiate student athlete playing football as a wide receiver and a key member of the National Society of Black Engineers. Donyel is now an active volunteer for V Foundation.

I’ve been 29 years in the industry, first as a trainee IBM operator at Barclays Bank, later starting my own business which was ultimately acquired by French listed company EasyVista – [giving me great insight into working as part of an internationally focused company alongside organisations like Reuters, UBS Warburg, GlaxoSmithKline and London Electricity].
I am Sales & Marketing Director at Netutils – a specialist IT Networking and Security solutions provider. My passion continues to be making enterprise more efficient via the intelligent deployment of technology, with a view to delivering real value for my clients.

Jim Benson is currently the Product Marketing Director at Juniper Networks for both the Mobile and Cloud verticals. He has twenty-one years of work experience, including leadership roles in sales, technical sales, business/market development, product management, project management, and hardware/software engineering. He has spent the last fifteen years working in the telecom industry at Lucent Technologies/Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks and most recently Coriant.
Jim holds BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic School of Engineering at New York University as well as an MBA from Yale University, where he majored in both Strategy and Marketing. He also holds a Professional Engineering (P.E.) license.

Jennifer Blatnik is vice president of cloud, security and enterprise portfolio marketing at Juniper Networks with focus on enterprise deployments of security, routing, switching, and SDN products, as well as cloud solutions. She has more than 20 years of experience helping enterprises solve network security challenges. Before joining Juniper, Jennifer served multiple roles at Cisco Systems, Inc., including directing product management for security technologies aimed at small to medium enterprises, as well as supporting managed services, cloud service architectures and go-to-market strategies. She holds a B.A. in Computer Science from University of California, Berkeley.

As a Director of Product Marketing for Cloud Vertical at Juniper Networks, Julius is leading the strategic marketing initiatives for the Cloud solutions, technology and go-to-market. Julius brings over 20 years of experience in Product Management, Marketing and Engineering to his role at Juniper Networks. Recently, Julius was a Director of Product Management for Cloud Platform at Juniper and prior to that he was a Director of Product Management at BTI Systems driving NFV-SDN strategy and execution. Julius has also held senior level engineering/marketing/product-management positions with Juniper, Nortel and Arbor Networks and has extensive experience in the Cloud Provider, Service Provider and Enterprise Markets with an Entrepreneurship MBA focusing on technology strategy and marketing.

JOHN F. ORBE
Government, Education & Medical
Juniper Networks
Americas Enterprise
John joined Juniper in 2013, leading the firm’s engagement with State and Local Government and Education in the Americas. In 2014, the Healthcare sector was added to John’s responsibilities. The organization focus is upon leverage of Next Generation Network Architectures and Solutions to exceed expectations for: Connected Government, Optimized networks to enable teaching with technology and improving student outcomes in Education and assisting Healthcare Institutions to meet Meaningful Use and Affordable Care objectives. Balancing Agility, Openness and Security through the Campus, Data Center and Cloud. John leads Juniper’s CIO Advisory Board for Higher Education.
Prior to joining Juniper, John held various leadership positions during his 32 years in IT, with firms including Nortel, and began his career in IT with IBM and Digital Equipment Corp (DEC). He was a founding Member of ConnectKentucky, a public private partnership.
Mr. Orbe has a BS Business Administration from St. Louis University, 1981. John, his wife and four kids live in St. Louis.

Jon joined Fujitsu UK&I as Chief Technology Officer in January 2011 from the public sector, where he was Chief Information Officer, Transformation Director and SIRO at the Valuation Office Agency. Prior to this he was Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ first Chief Technology Officer, leading the integration of the former Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise organizations.
His roles in both organizations drove out savings in excess of £600m, as well as bringing about significant technology transformation, building high performing teams in the process.
Jon was a founding and core member of the UK Government Chief Technology Officer Council and recruited and led a team creating Public Services Network, XBRL mandation and cross government channel strategy.
Jon’s client side board level experience is built on 11 years at Accenture, with clients including Barclaycard, Legal & General, BP, Castrol and BG Group.
Jon now leads the UK & Irelands 1,200 strong Architecture Community, driving standard solutions, reinforcing rigorous re-use and a collegiate collaborative community and culture, leading with courage and conviction.
Jon is a firm believer in the 4Ps – Pace, Passion, Pride and Professionalism. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the British Computer Society, founding Fujitsu Fellow and a member of the Advisory Board for AppDynamics.

I have been in the networking industry for over 35 years: PBXs, SNA, Muxes, ATM, routers, switches, optical - I've seen it all. Twelve years in the US, over 25 in Europe, at companies like AT&T, IBM, Bay Networks, Nortel Networks and Dimension Data. Since 2007 I have been at Juniper, focusing on solutions and services: solving business problems via products and projects. Our market is characterized by amazing technological innovations, but technology is no use if you cannot get it to work and keep it working. That is why services are so exciting: this is where the technology moves out of the glossy brochures and into the real world!
Follow me on Twitter: @JoeAtJuniper
For more about me, go to my LinkedIn profile: http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/joe-robertson/0/4a/34a

I'm a Distinguished Systems Engineer at Juniper Networks. My main technical interests are routing protocols, MPLS, PCE/WAN Controllers, automation, and optical integration. Before joining Juniper Networks in 1999, I worked at BT for several years, at first in the Photonics Research Department and later in the data transport and routing area. I have a PhD in ultrahigh-speed optical transmission and processing and an MA in Physics, both from Cambridge University. I co-authored the book "MPLS-Enabled Applications: Emerging Developments and New Technologies", with Ina Minei. The book is now in its third edition.

Laurence is passionate about technology, particularly cyber security. His depth and breadth of knowledge of the dynamic security landscape is a result of over twenty years’ experience in cyber security. He understands the security concerns businesses face today and can bring insight to the challenges they will face tomorrow.
Laurence joined Juniper Networks in 2016 and is our senior security specialist in EMEA. Security throughout the network is a key area where Juniper Networks can help as business moves to the cloud and undertakes the challenge of digital transformation.

Mike Marcellin is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, leading the global marketing team responsible for marketing Juniper’s product and services portfolio and stewarding the brand, driving preference for Juniper in the market, training our partners and account teams, and developing a differentiated information experience for our customers. Before joining the global marketing organization, Marcellin led business strategy and marketing for Juniper’s industry-leading portfolio of high-performance routing, switching and security products.
Prior to joining Juniper in 2010, Marcellin served as Vice President of Global Managed Solutions for Verizon, where he oversaw product development and marketing of its managed IP networking, hosting, security and IT solutions for businesses around the world. He also served as Vice President of Global Product Marketing for Verizon Business, executive director of Verizon Business’ IP and Ethernet portfolio as well as leading the company’s eCRM marketing division. Marcellin began his career with MCI in 1994.
Marcellin is a Board Member for the Telecommunications Industry Association and a Board Member of US Ignite, an NSF-sponsored initiative. Marcellin holds two patents and was a Rodman Scholar at the University of Virginia, where he received a bachelor of science degree with distinction in systems engineering. He is based in Sunnyvale, California.

I am a Senior Systems Engineer for NEC, based in Auckland, New Zealand. My main focus for NEC is all things Juniper, ranging from the smallest SRX platform to the PTX5K and everything in between, including the QFX and MX series. In addition to looking after the Juniper Networks equipment, I am also deeply involved in the SDN and compute platforms from NEC and Netcracker (an NEC company). Next on my certification list is the JNCIP-DC, having already completed the JNCIP-SP, JNCIP-ENT, JNCIP-SEC and the JNCDS-DC, SEC and WAN.
Outside of work I enjoy the great outdoors: Mountaineering, bouldering, rock or ice climbing, tramping (hiking to non-Kiwis) and snowboarding. My partner and I own a lifestyle farm South East of Auckland, overlooking the beautiful Coromandel peninsula. We have 13.5Ha and keep Highland Cattle, horses and the chickens but also have a compliment of wild ducks, geese, peacocks and pheasants roaming through the land.
Outside of work I enjoy the great outdoors: Mountaineering, bouldering, rock or ice climbing, tramping (hiking to non-Kiwis) and snowboarding. My partner and I own a lifestyle farm South East of Auckland, overlooking the beautiful Coromandel peninsula. We have 13.5Ha and keep Highland Cattle, horses and the chickens but also have a compliment of wild ducks, geese, peacocks and pheasants roaming through the land.

Marcel Wiget is a member of the Routing TME team. His career within Juniper started back in 2009 as a Senior Systems Engineer driving one of the first MX based Broadband Edge deployment to success. Prior to Juniper, Marcel held various positions in pre-sales, professional services and development at Chantry Networks, Spring Tide, Nortel Networks and Wellfleet.

I am one of a small team of Network Engineers working for Lumison Ltd, a UK ISP/MSP based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have been with the company for almost 6 years moving from frontline support to the Managed Services team dealing with customer network design and implementation before talking up the role of Network Engineer. As well as the JNCIE-ENT certification.

I love the intracacy and intimacy of succesful communications. Why and how people engage with each other is fascinating. I am also consumed with the way IT changes behaviours, values and expectations in society.
I bring this sense of wonder to my role in EMEA Service Provider Marketing Programs at Juniper Networks.
Down time: My passions are music, reading, politics, Derby County and playing the guitar (and the harmonica).
You can follow me elsewhere:
twitter: @neilpound
my personal blog: http://neilpound.tumblr.com/
my LinkedIn account: Neil Pound

Head of EMEA Marketing for Juniper Networks.
An inspirational marketing leader working across the entire marketing mix to transform brand into business value, activity into results and thought leadership into measurable pipeline. You can follow me on Twitter at @PaulGainham

Paul Obsitnik is Vice President of Service Provider Marketing for Juniper Networks Platform Systems Division (PSD), responsible for the marketing of Juniper’s portfolio of high performance routing, switching, and data center fabric products to Service Providers globally. Paul's team is responsible for marketing strategy, product marketing, go-to-market planning, and competitive analysis worldwide for the Service Provider segment.
Obsitnik has extensive experience in marketing, sales and business development positions with a proven track record in creating technology markets. He has served in senior marketing and sales management positions at several companies including BridgeWave Communications, ONI Systems, NorthPoint Communications and 3Com.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. Obsitnik is based in Sunnyvale, California.

I have been at Juniper Networks since 2004, focused on Corporate Communications (media relations, analyst relations, customer reference progam) for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region.
I have worked in the networking industry since 1988.

Raghu Subramanian is VP of Sales Engineering for Asia-Pacific at Juniper Networks. Prior to this, he has served Juniper as chief strategist for the security business, product evangelist to channel partners, and product manager for M-series routers.
In past lives, Raghu was a chip designer at Hewlett Packard, and an R&D manager at a start-up acquired by PMC-Sierra.
Raghu has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California at Irvine, and a B.Tech.in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. In his spare time, he enjoys reading non-fiction, coaching kids for the Math Olympiad, and traveling with his family to other countries to learn about their ways.

Sergio Fickel is a senior marketing manager with almost 20 years experience in strategic marketing planning, marketing communications, campaign management and execution in regional European roles. He is experienced in business development for IT Managed (Security) Services, high value Security Solutions, Networking and Media & Broadcast solutions.

Stephen is currently a Partner Acccount manager at Juniper Networks, and has held this role for 3 years. Prior to Juniper, he worked at Extreme Networks for 11 years in a variety of roles.
Stephen is a Father of 3 children, a keen cricket fan and enjoys cooking, reading and theatre in his free time.

Stephen Liu is Senior Director of Product Marketing for Juniper Networks. In this role, he leads product marketing for Juniper’s industry-leading service provider portfolio of high-performance routing and switching products. These products include Juniper PTX Series, T Series, MX Series, and ACX Series platforms along with software and security.
Prior to joining Juniper in 2013, Stephen served as Director of Service Provider Marketing at Cisco Systems. In that role, he led product and solution marketing worldwide for the service provider routing, switching, optical, and software portfolio. Products included NCS, CRS, ASR, and ONS platforms.
Stephen attended the University of California, San Diego, where he received a bachelor’s of science degree electrical engineering – communication systems.
Hobbies include restoring old Volkswagens and coaching competitive youth soccer. He is based in Sunnyvale, California.

Steven Tufts is Corporate Vice President of Services at Juniper Networks. In his current role, Steven is responsible for all services sales and delivery in the Americas. Previously, he led the Global Support Organization delivering technical support for all products in all theaters.
Prior to Steven’s 10+ years at Juniper, he served as Vice President of Global Service and Support at Alcatel. He arrived at Alcatel through the acquisition of Xylan Corporation and worked in the combined companies for 10 years. Before that, Steven served in technical and management roles at Bay Networks/Nortel as well as Wellfleet Communications.
Steven earned his B.S. degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an Executive Business degree from Stanford University.
He works at the Juniper Networks headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

An accomplished network engineer with 18+ years’ experience, and a Juniper employee since 2004, Tony leads the IT team focused on deploying “Juniper on Juniper”, using Juniper technology to run the business and deliver core business services across the enterprise. Tony holds a BS degree from California Polytechnic State University. Outside of work, Tony serves on a School Advisory Council, loves biking and good coffee.